All He Would Ever Need
by lucky.13.is.mine
Summary: Harry was just running an errand with little Albus, when he saw a woman he hadn't see in years. My first fanfic, please review!


Harry Potter was a happy man. It was his best mate's birthday and everyone was at the Burrow waiting to celebrate. He was running an errand, but he didn't mind.

Hermione Weasley was cooking an amazing feast for her husband and the whole family, and she was doing it the non-magical way. Mrs. Granger even came to the Burrow and was helping her daughter, while Mr. Granger was busy explaining dentistry to a fascinated Arthur Weasley. Hermione and Mrs. Granger were missing a crucial ingredient and needed someone to run to a muggle shop in London. They were both very busy, and there was no way in hell that anyone was going to let a Weasley run free in muggle London, so Harry agreed to take on the job.

Harry was all ready to leave when he felt someone tap him on his side. He turned around to see seven year-old Albus Severus staring up at him.

"Can I come, Dad?"

Harry thought for a moment. He needed to be quick, but this father knew his son. Al wasn't going to cause any trouble like older brother, James, and he wouldn't ask for every little thing he saw like his younger sister, Lily.

"'Course you can," replied Harry.

With that, father and son walked hand-in-hand out of the Burrow and disappeared with a 'pop'.

The pair reappeared in an alley that led to a crowed street. Nobody noticed when they walked onto the sidewalk.

"What are we lookin' for?" asked Albus, while looking at the buildings and people around him with obvious curiosity.

"A place called Reggie's Veggies. Aunt Hermione and her mum need some more eggplant," Harry smiled as he looked at his son's wide, green eyes. "Keep your eyes open."

They had only walked a short distance when Albus started jumping up and down.

"I see it! I see it!" Albus exclaimed while he pointed to a little shop. They walked inside and started perusing the colorful rows of vegetables. Harry stopped when he saw a woman that he recognized immediately. The name slipped out of his mother before he could stop himself.

"Petunia," he said.

The horse-faced woman turned around with a smile on her face, expecting to see an old friend, but that smile faded when she saw the man before her. Her eyes went from his messy black hair, to his emerald green eyes, to the lightning bolt scar.

"Harry?" The worry was evident in her voice. What was _he _doing here? This wasn't a place where 'his lot' usually came. Vernon had been saying the boy, now a man, would come back any day now to burden them again, to pick up where he had left off so many years ago.

"Wha-What are you doing here?" was all she was able to sputter.

Harry was about to muster a response when a little voice piped up behind him.

"Who's that, Daddy?" Al was now standing behind his father's legs, looking at the woman who gaped at him.

Harry lost the words he was about to say, and looked at his Aunt Petunia while she studied his son. She didn't look pleased as she saw the boy's violent red, messy hair, but her features softened as she spotted his emerald green eyes. The eyes that had once belonged to her sister.

"This- This is your son?" asked Petunia softly.

"Yes. This is little Albus." Harry replied.

"Is he one of your lot?" The coldness returned to her voice almost instantly.

"Of course he is." The pride in Harry's voice was evident. "His mother is a witch, just like the rest of her family, so of course he's 'one of my lot'. Bound to be a damn good one, too."

Harry had become stern. He studied the woman before him and couldn't help but feel some hatred for her. He had decided long ago that the past was the past, and there was no changing it, but this woman had made his childhood a living hell. She had never shown him a bit of compassion, and had even lied about his parents. He then remembered the memories he viewed years ago during the war at Hogwarts. Lily Evans had loved her Tuney, and Tuney had loved her sister… until the letter from the wizarding school arrived. But all that was in the past. Harry secretly yearned to get to know his aunt, the last connection to his mother.

Harry came out of his thoughts and Petunia's eyes returned to the boy hiding behind his father. Again, her features softened, "He has her eyes. Those green eyes."

Harry couldn't stop himself from smiling. "I know. He's the only that does. James and Lily, Albus' brother and sister, have their mother's eyes."

"He's a beautiful boy," Petunia's face softened even further.

"I know" Harry smiled, looking down at his son.

They were all silent for a moment, lost in thought. They didn't even notice the people who kept stealing glances at their awkward meeting, and Petunia was not one who liked to be stared at. Harry raised his eyes to look up, and Petunia did the same. They looked each other in the eye, and it looked like they might have a 'moment'. That small part of Harry that yearned for a part of his mother's family was looking forward to that moment. Maybe she would apologize for his crappy childhood. Maybe she would even say that she loved him. The silence ended when Petunia spoke.

"Harry, I- I'm s-" The word died in her mouth. The jealousy from her childhood rushed back through her. The loathing of her sister for being special, while was just normal. Not to mention the fact that she had gone and died and left her trouble-finding son to be her burden. Petunia's face become stony. She looked at Harry in the eyes, stole another glance at Albus, and turned around. She walked out of the shop, and didn't look back once to see the two sets of emerald eyes staring at her waning figure.

"Who was that?" Albus asked again, this time tugging his father's sleeve.

"Just someone from my past," he said, patting the child's head.

The part of Harry that wanted to love Aunt Petunia went back to sleep. He sighed. He closed his eyes and lost himself in his thoughts. He thought of Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, Ron, Hermione, George, Bill, Charlie, and Percy. He thought of Ginny, his beautiful and loving wife, and of their three children. He thought of his multitude of nieces and nephews, and of his godson, Teddy. While pulling Albus into a hug, he thought of his immeasurable love for all these people. They were his family, and they were all he would ever need.


End file.
